Implementing Self- and Peer Assessment to Promote Learner Autonomy in EFL Classrooms: Case of Master’s Students at the University of Tlemcen

Abstract

The present doctoral research aspires to promote learner autonomy among university students, in the process of drafting their research proposals, through the implementation of formative self- and peer assessment procedures, namely criteria-referenced rubrics. Thirty Algerian first-year Master’s students majoring in Applied Linguistics at the English section of the Department of Foreign Languages, University of Medea, took part in the study. To this end, an action research design was adopted using four research instruments: learner autonomy scale, students’ questionnaires, focus groups, and document analysis of students’ rubrics. The main findings obtained from the analysis revealed that self- and peer assessment, if co-constructed and managed properly, could cultivate different degrees of learner autonomy, particularly in social, cognitive, metacognitive, and affective dimensions. In addition, students claimed that they have benefited from autonomous learning through their involvement in assessment and perceived it as a transferable skill that backs up lifelong learning